We 1 (1-02) Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin National Agricultural Statistics Service USDA Washington, D.C. Released January 8, 2002, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture. For information on "Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin" call Mark E. Miller at (202)720-7621, office hours 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. National Weather Summary Volume 89, No. 2 December 30 - January 5, 2001 For additional information, call (202) 720-7917. Highlights: A cold weather pattern deepened across areas from the Plains eastward, resulting in near- to below-freezing conditions as far south as southern Texas on January 3 and central Florida on January 4 and 5. Weekly temperatures ranged from 5 to 13 degrees F below normal from the southern Plains to the southern Atlantic States. Although some Deep South winter ground crops required protective measures against the cold, citrus escaped with minimal damage. One of the major cold-weather concerns involved emerging sugarcane in southern Louisiana, where temperatures at or below 20 degrees F left new growth vulnerable to damage, especially if very warm weather follows the chill. Elsewhere in the South, snow blanketed areas from central Louisiana to the southern Mid-Atlantic region from January 1-3. Although the snow impeded transportation, drought-stressed pastures and winter grains in the southern Atlantic Coastal Plain benefited from soil moisture improvements. Toward week's end, locally heavy showers maintained unfavorably wet conditions in the lower Mississippi Valley, while additional rain and snow overspread the East. Meanwhile, cold, mostly dry weather prevailed across the Plains and Midwest, favoring winter fieldwork activities. In winter wheat areas on the northern High Plains, the week's lowest temperatures ranged from 0 to -20 degrees F, increasing the risk of winterkill. Poorly established winter wheat in Montana remained especially vulnerable due to a patchy protective snow cover and long-term drought, although varying degrees of dryness also persisted across the southern half of the Plains. In the West, heavy precipitation fell in areas from the Cascades and Sierra Nevada westward, while showers provided additional drought relief across the Great Basin and interior Northwest. Despite nearly 2 months of significant precipitation in the Northwest, water-supply concerns persist. Meanwhile, in the Four Corners region, concerns about next summer's water supplies began to mount because of precipitation deficits since the summer of 2001. Early in the week, a record-setting Great Lakes snow squall event tapered to flurries. Downwind of Lake Erie, Buffalo, NY, received only 0.1 inch of snow during the week after receiving an 81.5-inch blanket from December 24-28. Meanwhile downwind of Lake Ontario in Lewis County, NY, December 24 - January 1 snowfall totaled 127 inches in Montague and 104 inches in Highmarket. Just east of Lake Michigan, Grand Rapids, MI, weathered at least 1 inch of snow on each of the last 9 days in December, totaling 51.6 inches, breaking their record of 7 consecutive days set from December 5-11, 1958. Farther south, the coldest air in several years spread into portions of the southern Plains and the Southeast. Oklahoma City, OK, noted 9 degrees F on January 3, their lowest reading since January 28, 1997, when the minimum temperature was 6 degrees F. Meanwhile in Brownsville, TX, the low of 30 degrees F was their lowest since an identical reading on January 13, 1997. Elsewhere in Texas, January 3 lows of 22 degrees F in San Antonio and 27 degrees F in Corpus Christi were the stations' lowest readings since December 1997. Even more impressively cold weather settled in across portions of the Southeast, where Baton Rouge, LA, recorded 18 degrees F on January 4. In Florida, record lows on Friday included 31 degrees F in Orlando and 36 degrees F in West Palm Beach, followed by a record of 32 degrees F in Sarasota-Bradenton on Saturday. Miami Beach (40 and 40 degrees F) and Hollywood (35 and 40 degrees F) set daily-record lows on both January 4 and 5. Farther north, several upper Midwestern and northern Plains locations registered their first sub-zero readings of the winter on December 31, including Sioux Falls, SD (-2 degrees F) and Aberdeen (-8 degrees F). Elsewhere on the final day of 2001, the low dipped to -23 degrees F in Williston, ND. The following day, Havre, MT, noted -14 degrees F. During the final days of 2001, some periodic light snow fell on the southern Plains as a winter storm began to evolve. On New Year's Day, snow developed across portions of Louisiana and southern Mississippi, accumulating as much as 2 inches in Tangipahoa and Livingston Parishes and locally more than 4 inches between Columbia and Hattiesburg, MS. Snow continued into January 3 across the Southeast, ending early on January 4 on North Carolina's Outer Banks. January 2-3 snowfall reached 4.6 inches in Atlanta, GA, their highest 24-hour total since 5.0 inches fell on January 18, 1992. Elsewhere in the Southeast, storm-total snowfall included 10.8 inches in Raleigh-Durham, NC, 8.2 inches in Greensboro, NC, 7.7 inches in Richmond, VA, and 5.0 inches in Columbia, SC. Storm totals reached 14 inches at several locations in the North Carolina piedmont. Heavy precipitation returned to northern California and the Northwest in the early days of the new year. On January 2, Stockton, CA, netted a daily-record total of 1.29 inches. In the drainage area behind Whiskeytown Dam, near Redding, CA, Clear Creek noted a 24-hour precipitation total of 5.64 inches on January 1-2. Nearby Brandy Creek, CA, reported 5.88 inches during the same period. Farther south, however, Tucson, AZ, closed the year with a sixth consecutive month with below-normal precipitation. During the second half of 2001, rainfall totaled only 3.61 inches (40 percent of normal) in Tucson, their third-lowest July-December total behind 2.73 inches in 1973 and 2.84 inches in 1924. Following a frigid regime for most of December, warmer-than-normal weather returned to much of Alaska at year's end and in early January. Weekly temperatures averaged nearly 20 degrees F above normal across interior Alaska, accompanied by light snow. In Anchorage, AK, high temperatures reached or exceeded 32 degrees F on 10 of 12 days from December 25 - January 5, following 15 days with low temperatures below 0 degrees F from December 1-24. Farther into the Alaskan interior, McGrath received 4.7 inches of snow from January 2-5. Meanwhile, heavy precipitation soaked portions of southern Alaska, including a 7.18-inch weekly rainfall total in Kodiak. Farther south, only scattered, generally light showers fell across Hawaii, as the typical trade-wind pattern remained disrupted for a third consecutive week. National Agricultural Summary December 31 - January 6, 2001 A winter storm brought below-normal temperatures and a mixture of wintery precipitation to the southern Great Plains, lower Mississippi Valley, and Southeast. The cold weather halted growth of winter grains and forages but provided much-needed soil moisture reserves, especially along the Atlantic Coastal Plain. In Florida, overnight low temperatures fell below freezing, but were not sustained long enough to damage the citrus crop. Also, citrus trees experienced virtually no foliage burn, since temperatures quickly rebounded from early-morning lows. The cold weather provided beneficial chill hours for trees approaching the upcoming bloom period. A stormy pattern continued in the Pacific Northwest, producing persistent rain in the low-lying coastal areas and heavy snowfall accumulations in the higher elevations of the Cascade and Sierra ranges. In California, above-normal temperatures, supported by ample moisture supplies, stimulated development of winter crops. Temperatures averaged above normal in the northern Great Plains, but winter wheat fields were exposed to periods of sub-zero temperatures and gusty winds. The next "Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin" report will be released after 12 p.m. ET on January 15, 2002. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) 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